Advertisement
Published: April 14th 2007
Avignon
La PlazaGround hog day in Barcelona, pouring rain, so we said, ENOUGH! we're heading back to France.
Lunch stop just across the border in Perpignan, home to the mighty Catalan Dragons, France's token Rugby League side in the British Super League (and not a single frog in the ranks). However, with a name like the Dragons how could you not like them. They actually even win a few games unlike their Oz namesakes. If you are an Aussie or Kiwi league player in the twighlight of your career, a couple of superannuation years in this lovely town would be heaven.
From Perpignan we headed towards Avignon. Whilst driving along I was transposing the word Avignon into that old Bryan Ferry song Avalon, and 2 minutes later, scouts honour, on French radio, (cue the Twighlight Zone theme), out booms Mr Ferry with the real version. It had to be sign. Outside the skies were clearing and if I'd wound down the car window, I'm sure the birds were singing.
And then the next morning, a funny thing happened in Avignon. Penny and Gary got dressed without unfurling any long pants, thermals, vests, jackets, umbrellas. Crisp, clear and blue. I told yuz it was
Avignon
Not quite Pinto from Ecuador a sign!
Avignon is in the heart of the provence called Provence, and if I had to name one provence out of all the provences that was my favourite provence, then the provence of Provence gets the nod, provincially speaking. Cezanne, Monet, Matisse and Van Gogh were inspired enough to live and work here and they couldn't all be wrong.
Provence is also Rose (I can't find the accent on this keyboard to place over the e) country. We've a couple of rose in the cellar at home but have never really been a fan. Whatever, let's give it a go, pinch the nose and down the hatch. Not too shabby. Light but refreshing. We're already planning for a hot Sunday back in the yard of chez Colvin/Yeates and uncorking a rascally rose Oz style to go with a crisp salad and fetta cheese.
Avignon is also strategically located for numerous towns in the area.
ORANGE - (was the colour named after the fruit or visa versa) with its ancient Roman amphitheatre the star attraction. Those pesky Romans sure got around. When it was built about 100AD, all performances were free, a better deal than the 7.5 euros charged now
Villeneuve dè Avignon
High and not so Mighty for a mere peek. While the tickets may have been free 2000 years ago, the seating was still allocated according to social status. The emperor's good buddies up front, the beggars, hookers and foreigners bringing up the rear. Colvin and Yeates in a time machine back a couple of thousand years and we'd rather be mixing it with the rabble rousing plebs up in the bleachers, scoffing honey wine and hurling sarcastic remarks at the performers on stage. A whole lot more fun than sitting with the stiffs in the front row.
BAUX en PROVENCE - a village the size of a postage stamp which receives 2.5 million tourists a year. The village is 100 per cent charming but it seems nobody actually lives here. It's only occupied by merchants trying to bleed euros out of the tourists. They weren't able to squeeze a single centime out of these 2 artful dodgers.
ARLES - another great town on the banks of the mighty Rhone, is home to another Roman edifice. Originally an amphitheatre, then a fortress, now a bullfighting ring. Bullfighting, now there's an even contest. Ernie and his compadres (and yes I have read Death in the Afternoon) can
Gordes
Gawd, it is beautiful attempt to glorify this SPORT all they want but they'll never convince me it's not cruel. A noble way for the bull to die? HUH! If the bull could speak, 100 to 1 he would tell you he'd rather die of old age in a paddock.
Off the soap box and back behind the wheel of Pepe, we zoom into the Riviera. The cities read like a who's who of European glitz. Cannes, Antibes, St Tropez, Nice and Monte Carlo. What the travel brochures don't mention are the finance bleeding tolls (about 1 euro per 10 klm) and then the infuriating toll gates that wouldn't accept any of our credit cards. Neither do they mention the draining traffic or the mission to find a room. Then with these dramas behind, we settled into Nice, one damn nice town. It's got spunk and character, warm weather and blue sky matching the colour of the placid Mediterranean lapping its shores. What began as only a couple of planned nights finished up the best part of a week exploring not only Nice itself but a bevy of postcard surrounding towns. Mind you, many of these postcard stops are mingled amongst a host of
Venasquez
French dribbler not so attractive Gold Coastish overdevelopement.
Our last night in Nice and in fact France, we ventured into the old town to hopefully find a bit of live jazz. We had to settle for a cozy spot at a table al fresco in an atmospheric lane about 2 meters wide with Edith Piaf waltzing out of the sound system while we supped a smooth burgundy or 2. Ahhhh France.
Yeatesy
Our last week in France (for a while) and it didn't disappoint. The average temperature each day has been 25 degrees, clear blue skies. We spent 4 days in Avignon in a lovely apartment, compliments of Gary's Wotif voucher. It was a novelty to cook for ourselves and eat alfresco each night. Our week included some memorable excursions to Roman amphitheatres, medieval villages, bull fighting arenas and plenty of lavender fields and apple trees in blossom along the way.
For the past 5 days we have stayed in an old monestary high on the hill overlooking Nice - nice. We have managed to walk off the past months pastries, chocolates, cheese and baguettes with all the exploring we have done on foot. The French Riviera is
Vaucluse
Over the falls much how I had remembered it, but like many places we are visiting, it too is undergoing some renovations to make way for a new tram system, so instead of the tree lined boulevardes I remembered leading you to the Mediterranean, there is wall to wall construction, bulldozers jackhammers, not as tranquil as the last visit. Jane has struggled a few times with the roadblocks and as a result we have ended up in the middle of the construction a few times. Pepe also had a few days rest under the trees while we walked to our destinations, so he is now covered in constrcution dust and bird pooh from a nest of eagles. Some of the neighbouring towns we visited included:- Villefranche, an old Italian fishing village; Eze , a medievel town perched high on a cliff face overlooking the Riviera; Antibes, a typical french tourist town; Juan les Pins, a great pitstop for our gourmet picnic lunch complete with Socca ( a pancake made of chickpeas), vine leaves, baguette and cheese from the fromagerie; Cannes, whist we didn't see any stars, I expect there will be plenty in another month; Grasse, home of perfume - so they say,
Arles
Hemmingways inspiration but there was little evidence; Biot, a charming artisans village.
We say goodbye to France for a while with some great memories. Gary will have to leave the Blondes behind (beer of course), and I will start on a new maze of finding and using public toilets in another foreign country. I have frequented the very best and very unusual in France from the standing blocks with the pneumatic flush that nearly takes you with it, to the beautiful space in Madeleine where the bathroom is like going back into time, receiving an individual hand towel, brass door knobs, brass taps etc to the most memorable in Blois. One cold icy morning when Gary and I both needed to go but only had enough change for one person to visit the street electronic toilet. With no one around we huddled into the same toilet, did what we needed to, pushed the button to release the door (trying not to draw attention to ourselves) only to be confroned by a group of tourist who had just pulled up in their bus. oops.
We depart for Italy and hopefully for a tollfree ride all the way.
Penny
More images at:
Orange
Brass Monkey its not, but not a bad venue all the same www.colvinyeates.zenfolio.com
Advertisement
Tot: 0.078s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0499s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
